Chapter 34: Best Friends and Investment Results

On December 8, the premiere of *A World Without Thieves* was held in Beijing; Wang of Huayi personally called Wei Jin to invite him to attend.

Wei Jin stated that he was out of town and unable to attend, wishing them a massive box office success in advance.

On December 10, after a week of continuous roadshow work, the box office for *Those Years* reached 72.84 million.

It had been breaking ten million daily on average, but since yesterday, the box office had dropped significantly because *A World Without Thieves* had officially premiered; after all, the number of screens was limited.

The opening day box office for *A World Without Thieves* was 4.7 million, which was shocking; previously, the opening day box office for *Those Years* had neared ten million, and the industry generally considered it a sign of a warming market.

Even Feng Dapao himself had been full of confidence, feeling that by taking advantage of this warm current, *A World Without Thieves* might break ten million in one go; he hadn't expected reality to slap him hard across the face, leaving his head buzzing.

The industry was also silent, unable to fathom why there was such a large gap between the two films.

Actually, it was very simple; fan films were just like that, relying entirely on high initial bursts to quickly accumulate box office.

If the subsequent word-of-mouth collapsed, the first week's box office was basically the total box office.

Fortunately, the word-of-mouth for *Those Years* remained good, which was why the box office could break ten million daily; this was also the reason Wei Jin needed to continue the roadshow.

Wei Jin couldn't control the outside speculation; at this moment, Wei Jin was sitting on the bed with an annoyed expression, looking somewhat haggard.

The half-naked woman beside him spoke up, teasing:

"What, still regretting it? I didn't see you hesitating last night; you even tore my stockings to shreds."

Upon hearing this, Wei Jin glanced at the black stockings on the floor, feeling somewhat awkward, then immediately argued:

"Can you blame me? In the middle of the night, you dressed so scantily, wearing a black silk hip-hugging skirt, and ran into my room, teasing me in every way; which cadre could withstand such a test? Besides, black silk is my Achilles' heel."

"Aha, so you really do have a soft spot for black silk; Li Jie didn't lie to me after all."

"Jing Jie, can we not mention Li Jie? I don't even know how to face her now."

That's right, the one who raided Wei Jin's room was none other than Ceng Li's best friend—Hu Jing.

And this was where Wei Jin's distress lay; if it were a stranger, a casual fling, Ceng Li probably wouldn't take it to heart even if she found out, but this was her best friend.

"Don't worry, I won't tell Li Jie, and I won't ruin your relationship."

Hu Jing said with a calm expression.

"But it seems Li Jie still carries some weight in your heart; I suppose she didn't misjudge the person."

Regarding what happened last night, Hu Jing had actually thought it through carefully; the entertainment industry was just too difficult, and she had no background, having fought her way through on her own.

She had graduated for several years and still couldn't afford to buy a house in Beijing; this time, participating in Wei Jin's film was thanks to Ceng Li's favor, but favors were things that sometimes didn't work out.

Seeing that the film's box office was about to break 100 million and that Wei Jin would become a top-tier director in the country, she had thought about building a connection.

As for this way of building a connection, it was all too normal in the entertainment industry; to use an apt term, it was called a polite hookup.

As for betraying her best friend, Hu Jing felt she hadn't inserted herself into their relationship, so it didn't count as poaching, and she hadn't wronged Ceng Li.

"You make it sound so light; if Li Jie finds out, how will she see me?"

Wei Jin still couldn't quite accept it, secretly annoyed at himself for not being able to hold back last night.

But it wasn't entirely Wei Jin's fault; after all, he hadn't had anyone to sleep with for a long time, and between the empty room and his youthful vigor, a slip-up was inevitable; if it had been someone else, Wei Jin would never have felt a shred of regret.

"Oh my, you're a grown man, why are you being so wishy-washy? How are you going to make it in the entertainment industry like this?"

Hu Jing was truly a bit terrifying when she got tough, but her words helped Wei Jin resolve his inner conflict.

The reason Wei Jin was struggling and annoyed was actually his values from his previous life at work.

This was a transmigration, he was living a second life, and he was in the entertainment industry; he could have moral bottom lines, but they couldn't be too high. "Wei Jin, oh Wei Jin, you just made a mistake that every man in the world would make."

Wei Jin lit a cigarette, comforting himself.

From this moment on, Wei Jin seemed to have awakened some incredible attribute.

Seeing that Wei Jin no longer seemed to be struggling, Hu Jing looked at his bare upper body, thought of last night, and with eyes as seductive as silk, couldn't help but press against him: "I have another pair of black stockings in my bag, the texture is even better; want to try them?"

Wei Jin took a deep drag of his cigarette, crushed the butt into the ashtray with force, and turned to pounce on Hu Jing: "You demon, you're challenging my Achilles' heel; I'm going to make you call me Daddy..."

"Come on, come on..."

After finishing the roadshow, Wei Jin returned to Beijing.

Not long after getting off the plane, Xiang Wenlong called; Jinjiang and Qidian, which had been deadlocked for a long time, finally agreed to Wei Jin's investment.

As early as September this year, Xiang Wenlong had locked onto his investment targets in literature—Jinjiang and Qidian.

However, the founders of Jinjiang had never had any intention of seeking financing, and they weren't exactly short on money either.

After making contact, Xiang Wenlong realized it was like a mouse trying to pull a turtle—there was no way to get a grip; Jinjiang only agreed that copyrights could be sold with priority, and the negotiations remained deadlocked for a time.

As for Qidian, it was even more troublesome.

Long before Xiang Wenlong made contact, Shanda had already been negotiating with Qidian, and both sides had almost agreed on a price, but then Qingtian Capital appeared out of nowhere.

Qidian also felt their goods were rare and valuable, and the three-way negotiations fell into a stalemate.

He had thought the situation would be hard to break, but with the release of the film adapted from Wei Jin's novel of the same name over the past few days, which had achieved unprecedented results, the founders of the two major literary websites seemed to see another path for development, and their attitudes had softened.

After Xiang Wenlong's explanation, Wei Jin understood the cause and effect, then arranged a time to prepare for formal meetings with the heads of the two websites.

Three days later, after separate negotiations with both companies and multiple rounds of consultation, an agreement was reached.

For Jinjiang, Qingtian Capital invested 2 million RMB for a 40% stake, without participating in operations; if there were financing needs in the future, Qingtian Capital would enjoy priority investment rights.

Wei Jin Fengliu Studio would enjoy priority adaptation rights for all novels on Jinjiang Literature City, and all copyright transactions on Jinjiang must be approved by Wei Jin before proceeding.

For Qidian, Qingtian Capital invested 8 million for a 40% stake, Shanda invested 10 million for a 50% stake, and the founding team held a 10% stake; if any of the three parties wished to exit, the equity would be satisfied through internal buybacks first, and the copyright terms were the same as those for Jinjiang.

The moment the contract was signed, another piece was added to Wei Jin's entertainment empire.

Subsequently, Xiang Wenlong reported on some recent layouts for cinema chains.

As of the end of 2004, the total number of large screens in the country was less than 2,400; surveys of the five major box office cities showed that current cinemas suffered from poor environments, outdated equipment, and inconvenient transportation.

The team analyzed that if cinemas could be opened in commercial centers or places with high foot traffic, the returns should be good; they had already identified 12 promising commercial locations as candidates.

After reviewing the marked cities and locations, Wei Jin planned to lay out the cinemas through a mix of leasing and purchasing.

Currently, investing in a cinema, without purchasing the property, required about 1 million in initial capital, but the annual operating cost for a cinema was about 2 million.

Taking 2003 as an example, with 2,300 screens and a total box office of 1 billion, each screen created an average revenue of 430,000; a cinema with five halls would generate 2.15 million in box office revenue alone in a year, and the cinema could take about 1.2 million.

For a cinema, box office revenue only accounts for 40-50% of total income, while the rest, such as snacks, drinks, commercial advertisements, and so on, actually make up the lion's share of revenue; a well-operated cinema will have an annual revenue of no less than 3 million, which is completely sufficient to cover costs, and as long as it doesn't lose money, for Wei Jin, that is making a huge profit.

After a simple calculation, Wei Jin made a decision: negotiate for all 12 target locations and strive to carry out renovations after the New Year.

After handling company matters, the time arrived at December 23rd, and Kung Fu Hustle was released.

As a newbie author writing a book for the first time, I humbly beg for collections, follows, reading updates, and recommendations. Thank you everyone. Today is the first round of promotion, please help me out, thank you.

(End of this chapter)